Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/29842
grate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn’t earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee?” She continued: “We are under attack like never before. The sharks are circling and waiting for us to flounder. It is why we must continue to have a strong CTA. A strong voice for our students… for our schools… for our colleges… our union… and our future.” DINA MARTIN • • • • • hen legislators missed a deadline for putting a tax extension measure In other action, State Council: Elected Greg Bonaccorsi as NEA Director, District 3; and re-elected Elizabeth Ahlgren as NEA Director, District 10. Did not make a recommendation between Len Paolillo and Earl Wiman for NEA Executive Committee Member, as neither received 60 percent of the vote. Gave a standing ovation to three of the five California Teachers of the Year: Beverly Gonzalez, a fourth-grade teacher, member of the Baldwin Park Education Association; Darin Curtis, an eighth-grade physical education teacher, member of the Lakeside Teachers Association; and Jennifer Kelly, an eighth-grade physical science teacher, member of the Middletown Teachers Association. Also gave a standing ovation to Miguel Ruiz, the 2011 CTA Education Support Professional of the Year, who is vice president of the Redlands Education Support Professionals Association and a warehouse delivery worker for the Redlands School District. Heard a presentation on pensions from Maggie Ellis, chair of the State Council Retirement Committee, and received a new brochure. (See cta.org/pensionbrochure.) CTA presses lawmakers to approve tax extensions W before the voters in June, CTA quickly switched to Plan B. CTA has begun pressing lawmakers to approve the temporary tax extension themselves to stave off another $12.5 billion in budget cuts, including $2 billion to $4 billion in additional slashes to schools. “Failing to extend the tempo- rary taxes will deal so much ad- ditional damage to our students, our schools, our members, and our state that we cannot afford to wait a moment longer,” declares CTA President David A. San- chez. “We are calling on law- makers to pass an extension of the temporary taxes.” “Schools have already lost nearly $1,900 per student, and the cuts that will occur without the tax extension will mean that school funding will have been cut by more than $18 billion,” Sanchez adds. “Parents, stu- dents, educators, and school em- ployees will not stand for that outcome.” Schools have been decimated by cuts that have resulted in swollen class sizes reaching as many as 40 students in core sub- jects, the elimination of school nurses and counselors, and the cancellation of art, music, and other subjects that help keep stu- dents in school. More than 20,000 certificated educators and many more edu- cation support professionals and other school workers have re- ceived layoff notices. Districts must send final layoff notices to certificated staff by May 15. The Legislature has already adopted by a majority vote a contingency budget that in- cludes $12.5 billion in cuts and assumes voters will approve a temporary tax extension worth another $12.5 billion. State law allows the Legislature to approve a budget on a simple majority vote, but lawmakers must secure a two-thirds supermajority in order to extend taxes or generate other revenues. Gov. Jerry Brown sought to expedite the budget process by urging lawmakers to have a new, balanced spending plan in place within 60 days of the start of his administration. The governor’s proposal was based on legislators’ sending a tax extension ballot measure to the voters for their ac- tion in June, prior to the July 1 start of the new state fiscal year. While all Democratic law- makers in both houses support- ed the tax extension ballot mea- sure, the governor and legisla- tive leaders were not able to persuade just two Republican lawmakers in the Senate and two in the Assembly to support the tax extension. Gov. Brown called off the talks with five Republican legis- lators who could have provided the needed votes when they en- gaged in regressive bargaining, bringing a wide range of anti-ed- ucator and anti-union proposals to the table. These last-minute add-ons would have gutted edu- cator pensions and undermined other vital protections. With the refusal of Republi- can lawmakers to provide the needed votes for the tax exten- sion, the Legislature and the gov- ernor are working against the budget deadlines set by the state constitution. Under its terms, the Legislature must send the governor a spending plan by June 15. The constitution gives the governor until June 30 to sign the final spending plan, which takes effect the next day. The next major step in the process should come around May 10, when the governor is expected to release his updated revenue and expenditure esti- mates — the “May Revision.” In a normal year, this revision marks the beginning of a fren- zied sprint toward a final spend- ing plan. This year, CTA and its Edu- cation Coalition partners — together representing more than 1 million parents, stu- dents, educators, school em- ployees, administrators and school board members — are redoubling their efforts to pro- tect school funding. CTA will address the “State of Emergen- cy” with a series of actions — including ones taking place at the state Capitol — designed to keep pressing legislators to provide schools with the des- perately needed funds to pre- vent the massive layoffs and program disruptions that are sure to follow another $12.5 billion in cuts. LEN FELDMAN SEPTEMBER 2011 | APRIL 2009 www.cta.org 37 31